All Teams Qualified for Valorant Champions 2023
| Tags: Valorant
| Author Najib R
This article’s all about the 16 teams from worldwide who are going to compete at Champions 2023 in Los Angeles, California
Champions 2023, the biggest Valorant event this year, will feature 16 teams from the Americas, EMEA, Pacific and China. Not only does this Champions event include Chinese teams for the first time, but 17% of the representatives are also from China, the highest in any region (source: Liquipedia).
The LAN tournament will take place in Los Angeles, California, from August 6, making it the first Champions in North America. Before the most important Valorant competition initiates, let’s learn about all the teams participating.
Americas Teams at Champions 2023
Four teams from the Americas region have been selected for Champions 2023, three of them from the Americas League and KRÜ from the LCQ. This is the first time we are seeing only two North American teams in Champions.
Evil Geniuses
Credit: Riot Games
- Kelden “Boostio” Pupello (IGL)
- Ethan “Ethan” Arnold
- Alexander “jawgemo” Mor
- Corbin “C0M” Lee
- Max “Demon1” Mazanov
- Christine “potter” Chi (Head Coach)
EG are no longer holding onto their “underdog” title as they have already proven to be one of the world's best teams with their Masters Tokyo run. Instead, they will be the favorites, not only between themselves and NRG from North America but also among nearly all the global teams.
NRG
- Pujan “FiNESSE” Mehta (IGL)
- Sam “s0m” Oh
- Austin “crashies” Roberts
- Victor “Victor” Wong
- Ardis “ardiis” Svarenieks
- Chet “Chet” Singh (Head Coach)
While this core is far from its great days, FiNESSE being one of the best in-game leaders gives this team an edge, not to mention their vast experience in S-tier competition such as this one. Moreover, seeing the Victor and crashies duo in action in another Champions event is peak Valorant.
LOUD
- Matias “Saadhak” Delipetro (IGL)
- Erick “aspas” Santos
- Felipe “Less” Basso
- Cauan “cauanzin” Pereira
- Arthur “tuyz” Vieira
- Daniel “fRoD” Montaner (Head Coach)
From being the champions of the Americas League to a disappointing 0-2 exit at Masters Tokyo, LOUD had some highs and lows so far this year. However, the 2022 Champions winners are not a force to be messed with, as this Brazilian squad can take on any team in the world.
KRÜ Esports
Credit: Riot Games
- Marco “Melser” Amaro (IGL)
- Angelo “keznit” Mori
- Santiago “Daveeys” Ruiz
- Juan Pablo “NagZ” Lopez Miranda
- Nicolas “Klaus” Ferrari
- Jorge “Atom” Noriega (Head Coach)
The Chileans had a completely different look at the Americas LCQ compared to their winless Regular Season performance, as they secured Champions with a 5-0 undefeated journey against names like Cloud9. Their sudden change of pace has been one of the many Cinderella stories we have witnessed this year.
EMEA Teams at Champions 2023
Thanks to Fnatic’s win at Masters Tokyo, EMEA received an extra slot at Champions 2023, resulting in 5 teams from the region making it to this event. While the rest of the EMEA teams are currently in Fnatic’s shadows, names like Liquid and NAVI can still make waves at this LAN.
Fnatic
Credit: Riot Games
- Jake “Boaster” Howlett (IGL)
- Nikita “Derke” Sirmitev
- Emir “Alfajer” Beder
- Leo “Leo” Jannesson
- Timofey “Chronicle” Khromov
- Jacob “mini” Harris (Head Coach)
Fnatic are, without a doubt, the best team in the world now, making them the ultimate favorites to win Champions 2023. The EMEA squad started their year hot with the LOCK//IN trophy and then added another global win to their list at Masters Tokyo. Fnatic winning the Champions will make history as they will then take all three of the VCT international tournament trophies.
Team Liquid
- Igor “Redgar” Vlasov (IGL)
- Dom “soulcas” Sulcas
- Elias “Jamppi” Olkkonen
- Ayaz “nAts” Akhmetshin
- Saif “Sayf” Jibraeel
- Emil “eMIL” Sandgren (Head Coach)
Team Liquid were the only roster that’s been able to defeat Fnatic this year, and it was at the EMEA League Grand Final. Although their Masters Tokyo run was far from impressive, this team consists of global winners, making them one of the favorites in the Champions.
FUT Esports
- Furkan “MrFaliN” Yeğen (IGL)
- Buğra “mojj” Kiraz
- Doğukan “qRaxs” Balaban
- Konur “qw1” Şahin
- Ata “ATA KAPTAN” Tan
- Eray “GAIS” Sarıkaya (Head Coach)
FUT’s first year as a franchised squad has been exceptionally well compared to many other teams, as the Turks secured tickets to both Masters and Champions through their impressive EMEA League run. Although they are not one of the favorites, they can certainly be counted as a dark horse at this event.
Giants
- Emir “rhyme” Muminovic (IGL)
- Adolfo “Fit1nho” Gallego
- Žygimantas “nukkye” Chmieliauskas
- Aaro “hoody” Peltokangas
- Kirill “Cloud” Nehozhin
- Daniil “pipsoN” Mesheryakov (Head coach)
Giants secured EMEA League Playoffs through their decent Regular Season run but failed to get a Masters spot. Thankfully, they were able to come to Los Angeles through LCQ, where they defeated NAVI 3-0 in the Grand Final.
Natus Vincere
- Kyrylo “ANGE1” Karasov (IGL)
- Andrey “Shao” Kiprsky
- Pontus “Zyppan” Eek
- Dmitry “SUYGETSU” Ilyushin
- Mehmet “cNed” Yağız İpek
- Erik “d00mbr0s” Sandgren (Head Coach)
This roster consists of some of the most talented names of the EMEA region, and they delivered excellent results in the Regular Season of this year’s League. However, NAVI’s performance took a hit in the Playoffs, where they barely made it to Masters Tokyo, only to leave with a 0-2 record. The Champions will be their chance to return to a decent place as a roster.
Pacific Teams at Champions 2023
Out of the four Pacific teams at this tournament, Paper Rex are considered the strongest thanks to their incredible year so far after getting Russian star player Ilya “something” Petrov in their lineup.
Paper Rex
Credit: Riot Games
- Jason “f0rsakeN” Susanto
- Khalish “d4v41” Rusyaidee
- Aaron “mindfreak” Leonhart
- Wang “Jinggg” Jing Jie
- Ilya “something” Petrov
- Alexandre “alecks” Sallé (Head Coach)
With the Russian player something, Paper Rex made 2023 their best year so far by winning the first Pacific League. Even with the star player missing out on Masters Tokyo, the Singaporeans did pretty well with their substitute. Now, with their full strength and roster, they are going to be a strong force in California.
DRX
- Kim “stax” Gu-taek (IGL)
- Goo “Rb” Sang-min
- Kim “Zest” Gi-seok
- Byung-chul “BuZz” Yu
- Kim “MaKo” Myeong-kwan
- Seon-ho “termi” Pyeon (Head Coach)
The former kings of the Pacific region had a pretty good run in the Pacific League’s Regular Season. However, their performance didn’t follow through after that in the midst of switching between their 6th player and Zest.
T1
- Son “xeta” Seon-ho (IGL)
- Byeon “Munchkin” Sang-beom
- Joseph “ban” Seungmin Oh
- Ha “Sayaplayer” Jung-woo
- Lee “Carpe” Jae-hyeok
- Yoon “Autumn” Eu-teum (Head Coach)
After switching regions from North America to South Korea, T1 have found immense success, but not enough to write their name down in history. Bringing massive upsets at Champions will be their chance to get more eyes on the talented roster.
ZETA DIVISION
Credit: Riot Games
- Koji “Laz” Ushida (IGL)
- Tomoaki “crow” Maruoka
- Yuma “Dep” Hashimoto
- Shota “SugarZ3ro” Watanabe
- Tenta “TENNN” Asai
- Hibiki “XQQ” Motoyama (Head Coach)
While ZETA, unfortunately, missed the Masters event take took place in their home country, they made it to the Champions thanks to the LCQ win. This team have shocked the world in the past, and they have the ability to do it again in Los Angeles.
China Teams at Champions 2023
This is China’s first-ever appearance at a Champions event. The debut of Chinese rosters was at LOCK//IN, but Masters Tokyo was the event that cemented China’s name in Valorant through EDward Gaming’s incredible Cinderella run.
EDward Gaming
Credit: Riot Games
- Guo “Haodong” Haodong (IGL)
- Wan “CHICHOO” Shunzhi
- Wang “nobody” Senxu
- Zheng “ZmjjKK” Yongkang
- Zhang “Smoggy” Zhao
- Lo “AfteR” Wen-hsin (Head Coach)
Clearly, the best team from China, EDG, made a name for themselves through incredible upsets at Masters Tokyo, where their star player ZmjjKK, also known as KangKang, announced himself as a new hero to root for. Based on their performance in the last few events, EDG are not only the strongest from their region but one of the favorites on the global scene as well.
Bilibili Gaming
- Lei “yosemite” Wang
- Zhong “Biank” Jian Fei
- Li “rin” Lewei
- Wang “whz” Haozhe
- Liu “Knight” Yuxiang
- Wang “JeXeN” Linxiao (Head Coach)
This will be BLG’s debut on a global stage, as we haven’t seen them at either LOCK//IN or Masters. While the expectations are pretty low on this newcomer squad, we have to prepare ourselves for some upsets.
FunPlus Phoenix
- Zhang “BerLIN” Bo-lin (IGL)
- Zhang “AAAAY” Yang
- Tang “TZH” Zhehao
- He “WudiYuChEn” Cai
- Huang “Yuicaw” Yung-chieh
- Deng “NaThanD” Senqiao (Head Coach)
FPX have not yet won any global matches as a Chinese team, and they have only played one international LAN match at LOCK//IN. While not the strongest team that we have from China in this tournament, FPX have shown potential in their regional games.
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